Pares House and Arkin's Specialty Foods

And so the adventure continues :)

Before I was planning to go home, I remembered that I had a friend of mine who works in Eastwood needed someone to talk to. So texted her and asked her if she wanted to eat somewhere. Although initially we thought we could eat at Eastwood, I asked her if she'd want something different. She agreed and we both decided to eat at Marikina :)

I was craving for pares that night so I suggested to eat at a new pares place near our municipal hall. It was odd because the new place was formerly also a pares place. It looked different so I thought it would probably be different (or so I thought) as the previous one just tasted okay but nothing special.

Pares House

Location: Shoe Ave., Marikina City

How to get there:

If coming from Pasig, take a jeep going to Marikina/Palengke or Stoplight. You'll pass-by at Shoe Ave. and look out for an orange tricycle waiting line. It's on the same block as the Ministop. Just tell the driver to drop you off at Munisipyo and it's nearby.

If coming from Cubao, take a jeep that goes to Marikina (SSS or Parang) and tell the driver to drop you off at the Sports Center. You should be somewhere near the founatain and a big structure with a clock at the top. From there, walk towards your right to where there's lines of jeepneys waiting. Continue walking until you reach 7-11. Continue past that and you should see Ministop. The place is 2 stores past it.

Anyways, so we tried their 2 specialties: their mami and of course, the pares.

Name: Beef Mami

Price: 66php

Beef Mami

Well, we were both disappointed. Yummy as the pictures look (not so much the pares though) they don't taste as much. The mami was mostly tasteless. I had to put fish sauce so it would have enough for my palate to recognize. Eventhough the noodles were firm and the meat was tender, it still sucks.

Name: Beef Pares

Price: 75php

Beef Pares

The pares on the other hand, well, was typical. It just tasted like a normal beef stew without the vegetables (I mean the usual beef stew I eat has veggies). The garlic bits on the fried rice was even overcooked. :(

Soooo... whaddya think happened?

Seeing I just wasted money on nothing, I felt I needed to redeem myself and save my friend from further depression. And just across that same place, I saw a fairly new place I had been curious of ever since...

Arkin's Specialty Foods

 

 

Arkin's Specialty Foods

Location: Shoe Ave., Marikina City

How to get there: 

Just follow the same as the Pares House instructions above. This is just across the Pares House.

It's a small place and had medium lit lights but you'd already know it was really meant for those who'd like to drink or probably have their food smelled by passers-by. We went in and asked the golden question: "What's your specialty?". As if the readable print on the logo was enough, we really had to hear it from them hoping to catch inconsistency with their staff. But they didn't fail us. They confirmed that their bestseller had to be the "sinigang sa miso". It didn't matter which fish head it was although they claim the lapu-lapu is better. I'm not a fan of the said fish so I opted for the strangely cheaper salmon head. I asked my friend what she liked and she said if we can try the sizzling tunay belly. Usually I don't order the same type of food (e.g. beef, pork, seafood, veggie, etc.) because I like variety but since I wanted to cheer my friend up, I agreed to it...which I didn't regret afterwards. 

Name: Sinigang sa Miso (Salmon)

Price: 80php

Sinigang sa Miso (Salmon Head)

First they served some miso soup and it tasted really good. After 15-20 mins, they served the sinigang sa miso then the sizzling tuna belly.

Sinigang served in the ceramic casserole

As you can see, the sinigang was served in a floral ceramic casserole which gave it a home-cooked feel. Taking off the glass cover releases the good-smelling steam and made sure the dish was cooked fresh and hot. I then checked the fish's meat to see how well it was cooked...

The salmon meat

...it's not really a good shot but I tried haha. Anyways, the meat was pale pinkish and was well-cooked. It didn't crumble at contact with the fork nor did it felt recently thawed from the freezer. I then checked the veggies. They weren't mushy and were still crunchy when eaten. It had okra, raddish, pechay, ginger, pansigang na sili and of course, miso.

Miso soup and veggies

The soup was partially thick and was especially sour which already meant it was SOLD for me :) It had no oily taste because of the large ginger slices in the soup. And since it was kept hot, it was able to absorb all the flavors of the fish and veggies which is what good and authentic sinigang is. :) Yum yum.

The salmon meat was also good. One, as mentioned, was cooked well and second because there was a lot to eat to begin with.

Name: Sizzling Tuna Belly

Price: 160php

Sizzling Tuna Belly

I was expecting the tuna belly to be ordinary but the one I immediately noticed was that it had a large serving compared to the usual (e.g. Dencio's, Congo Grille) and for it's price, I'd say that alone was worth it. But of course I had to check the taste. As you can see, the meat is also well-cooked and though the onions and tomatoes didn't really add anything significant, they were a welcome freshness for taste. The belly was soft and meaty and tasty to the last bite. Heck, even the fish skin was tempting to eat. :) The hint of garlic was there which I liked.

And so what almost became a bad eating day turned out to be better due to trying that one across the street.

~2GBTG!